Pecos’ Cassie CdeBaca stands out as a six-sport athlete Sports, B-1
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Wednesday, September 25, 2013
www.santafenewmexican.com 75¢
‘Bloodied but unbowed’
Scoop, stuff and serve
Veronica goes home
Kenya’s president announces the standoff with militants at a Nairobi mall has ended.
Overgrown zucchini makes an ideal container for all kinds of fillings.
NAtIoN & WorLD, A-6
tAStE, D-1
The Oklahoma Supreme Court declines to uphold a stay keeping a young Cherokee girl with her biological father, and the girl is returned to her adoptive parents, Matt and Melanie Capobianco of Charleston, S.C. NAtIoN & WorLD, A-3
Medical cannabis misuse? Budget Sanctions against doctor could test limits of state’s regulations NEWS ANALYSIS
fight is risky one for GOP By David Espo
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Under relentless pressure from their right wing, Republicans are in the midst of a risky fight with President Barack Obama they know they will lose, little more than a year before an election that history says they should win. To minimize the damage, the party must redefine victory as something less than a full defunding of the 3-year-old health care law, yet persuade the most conservative GOP supporters that Republican lawmakers succumbed after a principled fight. All without triggering a government shutdown or a default by the Treasury, or otherwise offending independents whose ballots will settle the 2014 elections. Already, party leaders are making that effort. “I just don’t happen to think filibustering a bill that defunds Obamacare is the best route to defunding Obamacare,” Sen. Mitch McConnell said archly Tuesday. “All it does is shut down the government and keep Obamacare funded.” That was one day after rejecting the path outlined by the party’s rebel-in-chief, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — who began a speaking marathon on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon in which he said politicians in both parties rou-
Dr. Nicholas Nardacci, pictured Tuesday at his Albuquerque practice, where he has certified patients for medical marijuana for the past six years, is the first practitioner to be sanctioned by the state Medical Board on allegations of misusing the state’s 2007 medical cannabis law. CLYDE MUELLER/THE NEW MEXICAN
By Phaedra Haywood
The New Mexican
I
n the six years since New Mexico legalized medical marijuana, Dr. Nicholas Nardacci has cleared more than 1,000 patients to use it — a tenth of all the patients certified across the state in that period — for conditions ranging from cancer to multiple sclerosis to post-traumatic stress disorder. He even uses it himself to treat chronic back pain. But now the New Mexico Medical Board has suspended Nardacci’s license, claiming among other violations that he certified patients without proper documentation and that he examined and treated patients while
under the influence of marijuana himself. Nardacci is the first practitioner to be sanctioned by the board on allegations of misusing the state’s 2007 medical cannabis law, in a case that could represent one of the first tests of the law’s limits. Another practitioner who received a notice of contemplated action entered into a settlement agreement with the board. Nardacci, who is appealing the Medical Board’s decision to state District Court, claims the case against him is not supported by the board’s own investigation and is rife with conflicts of interest. He also asserts the campaign against him is really an effort by the Medical Board to show that New Mexico has tight over-
Geronimo owner plans new eatery at old O’Keeffe Café By Anne Constable
The New Mexican
The old O’Keeffe Café, which closed more than two years ago in part because of a struggling economy in downtown Santa Fe, is reopening as Georgia’s Museum Café. New owner Lloyd Abrams said Tuesday he is gutting and completely restoring the building adjacent to the O’Keeffe Museum. Abrams, owner of the upscale Geronimo Restaurant on Canyon Road, said Tuesday that his Conroad Associates LP bought the
Index
Calendar A-2
property from the O’Keeffe Museum. Some greeted the news as a hopeful sign that a period of turmoil for downtown restaurants and bars could be easing as the economy slowly recovers, even as some properties remain vacant. “We welcome the new investment in the downtown area that will add jobs and an additional asset for the visitor experience,” Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Simon Brackley said Tuesday. “The cafe is
Comics B-8
sight over its medical cannabis program so the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency won’t seek to enforce federal drug laws against patients in New Mexico. While using cannabis is allowed for certified patients in the state, it is still a controlled substance under federal law. “It’s a very thin case,” Nardacci said. “But they needed a target to put in the paper and say, ‘We are doing a good job; we are tough with our program.’ So they got me. They rolled me under the bus to make an example of somebody so they can show the program is tight. “I’m ruined because of this,” he added. “With this on my record, I can’t work at a popcorn stand.”
Please see CANNABIS, Page A-5
Calvert to give up council seat The two-term city councilor says he won’t seek re-election and endorses Signe Lindell for the position. LoCAL NEWS, C-1
obituaries Patricia Lynn Camp, Sept. 19 Mary Ellen Karnes, 82, Albuquerque, Sept. 21 Charlotte Hollis Williams, 90, Santa Fe, Sept. 21 Joseph Vincent Thompson, 94, Sept. 20 PAgE C-2
today Bright sunshine and breezy. High 81, low 48.
Please see CAFE, Page A-4
Classifieds D-3
Please see BUDgEt, Page A-4
Lotteries A-2
PAgE A-8
Opinions A-7
Police notes C-2
Editor: Ray Rivera, 986-3033, rrivera@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Kristina Dunham, kdunham@sfnewmexican.com
Lannan Foundation In Pursuit of Cultural Freedom Series Tim DeChristopher, climate justice activist and co-founder of Peaceful Uprising, in conversation with Terry Tempest Williams, 7 p.m., Lensic Performing Arts Center, $6, students $3, 988-1234, ticketssantafe.org.
Time Out B-7
By Robert Nott
Melynn Schuyler has seen many Santa Fe young people fall through the cracks once they drop out of the public-school system. As executive director of YouthWorks, a Santa Fe nonprofit devoted to helping disenfranchised youth, Schuyler hopes the new Transitional Education Program housed at Zona del Sol will stop that downward spiral. “Young people get crushed when they don’t fit,” she said. “My hope is that they will fit and that everyone involved in creating that program is aimed at a positive approach. Not ‘You have to work your way back,’ but rather, ‘We believe in your potential.’ ” At 3 p.m. Wednesday, representatives from YouthWorks, the city of Santa Fe, Santa Fe Public Schools and other local entities will join for a public event to lay out plans for the collaborative Transitional Education Program, expected to open in January. The project is designed to give students who are serving long-term school suspensions a chance to reconnect to the system in a smaller, more personalized learning
www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Taste D-1
Zona del Sol facility will help suspended students progress The New Mexican
Pasapick
Sports B-1
Program aims to get youth back on track
Please see YoUtH, Page A-5
Travel C-8
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Four sections, 32 pages 164th year, No. 268 Publication No. 596-440